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Toh Han Shih

Song and dance as Rusal  holds annual meeting
Rusal is having a song and dance in Hong Kong, but this time it's not about the Russian aluminium giant's controversial listing on the local stock exchange. 
The company will stage a Russian folk show in Statue Square at 1pm tomorrow when the State Academic Kuban Cossack Chorus will perform.
Rusal chief executive Oleg Deripaska,  who will be in town for his company's annual meeting but will not have time to attend the performance, said: 'We eagerly look forward to this unprecedented opportunity as a model where the people of Hong Kong and Russia can learn more from each other through cultural exchange.'
 The Russian oligarch has been involved in more than cultural exchanges in Hong Kong. Apart from  Rusal,  another of his companies, Strikeforce Mining & Resources,  called off a planned US$200 million IPO on the local bourse.
In fact, this is not a warm season for Russian initial public offerings. A survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland  said investors expect discounts of 15 to 20 per cent when it comes to Russian share sales.
So controversial was the listing of Rusal in January - the first Russian IPO in Hong Kong - that the stock exchange delayed its approval. The Securities and Futures Commission  considered the stock so risky it discouraged retail investors from buying the shares.
Deripaska is not immune to controversy himself. In May, he met Spanish investigators in Moscow as a witness in a money-laundering probe. 
Deripaska provided 'assistance in an investigation involving a number of Russian and Spanish companies and persons', Basic Element,  another of  his companies, said. 'Deripaska has no links to the companies named in the investigation and is happy to provide whatever assistance he can in this matter.'
Spanish authorities are investigating whether Deripaska has links with the Spanish-based company at the centre of the probe,  media reports said. 
We wonder what song Deripaska sang in front of the Spanish inquisition.
Mainland influence
The secondment of a veteran mainland government bank official, Mu Huaipeng,  to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority  is another sign of the growing mainland influence.
'It's true we have a number of staff with mainland backgrounds, for example in our research department. The number has increased over the years,' a HKMA spokesman said.
Mu, an official with the People's Bank of China, has become a senior adviser to the HKMA for a year. His previous position was director general of the financial market department of the PBOC. Before that he spent time as deputy director of the economic affairs department of the Central Government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. 
'His secondment will promote financial co-operation between Hong Kong and the mainland, expand yuan business in Hong Kong and develop opportunities for Hong Kong financial services in the mainland,' the HKMA spokesman said. 
In June last year, Mu was one of the guests officiating at a ceremony to mark the Bank of East Asia (China), a subsidiary of the Bank of East Asia, being the first mainland-incorporated foreign bank to issue yuan retail bonds in Hong Kong.
Citic Pacific chief shocked
Chang Zhenming,  the chairman of red chip Citic Pacific, was shocked by the Australian government's plan to impose a resources tax and is seeking special exemption for the Hong Kong-listed firm's US$5 billion iron ore project in the Pilbara, The Australian reported. 
'The reason it's called a super-profit tax is because it's taxed on super profits and we don't believe this mine will have super profits, as it is a magnetite project with very low iron concentrate,' the  newspaper quoted Chang as saying through an interpreter. 'Once the situation involving the super tax becomes clearer and if we believe that it's a reasonable outcome, then we certainly hope we would make future investments in Australia.'
Chang also rejected speculation that the resignation of Citic Pacific Mining managing director Barry Fitzgerald was linked to problems in the Chinese state-owned enterprise's Australian mining operations. Fitzgerald resigned  last month, less than a week after the company disclosed the cost of its magnetite mine had increased from US$3.5 billion to US$5.2 billion. 
Luisa Tam is on holiday



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Lai See